shadows of the past
by bubblez12345
Summary: soooo srry to those who read/reviewed/faved my story. won't get deleted again, i promise. will update cuz i feel guilty. Summery: Both ren and kyoko have dark pasts. Can they help each other when both their pasts come to haunt them? And wil they realize their feelings for eachother in the meantime?
1. Prologue

i'm soooooooooooooooo sorry. i sck with computers and am new to fanfiction. i deleted my story (again) so sorry to those who reviewed and faved the story. will post chapter 3 soon to make it up.

skip beat doesn't belong to me.

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here would always be shadows. These shadows contain all the darkness and despair in every person's heart and soul. But some people have more shadows than others. Such is the case with Hizuri Kuon.

Dark eyes watched him. If someone saw the man now, they wouldn't recognize the handsome face of Japan's number one actor, Tsuruga Ren. In a way, the dangerous eyes did not belong to the tall man. No, they belonged to someone else, someone more dangerous, a dark figure of the past, struggling to escape.

But he wouldn't escape.

No. Ren had decided to make sure that he didn't escape. But Kuon was stronger that he'd expected, and playing the part of Cain Heel had only made Kuon more determined. More determined to break free, using Cain Heel, but Ren wouldn't...couldn't let that happen, and it wasn't just because of Kuon's past.

The reason was simple. The only way Kuon could be freed using Cain was if he were to somehow break both Ren and Cain's protective charm, their talisman.

Ren let out a painful sigh, before turning away from his reflection in the mirror, away from the dangerous eyes, and resting his head in his hands. 'No matter what,' he thought, 'I can't let her get involved. I can't let her get hurt.'

There was a knocking sound at his door.

"Tsuruga-san? " A female voice called out, "We're ready for you."

Ren schooled his expression before leaving the dressing room, gracing the attendant with a beautiful smile as he walked by. The attendant suddenly felt light in the head. He did the same when he modeled in front of the camera, showing off clothes. Then again, during an interview, making the host and all the Japanese women, and even some men watching feel weak in the knees. In their awe, not one of them realized that his handsome expression, a gentleman's smile, was completely fake.


	2. Gossip Articles

Kanae Kotonami had seen a lot of unusual things in her short 17 years. After all, she did work for the cos playing, rich, love obsessed president of the most successful entertainment industry in all of Japan, and all this in a (hideous) bright pink jumpsuit, no less.

Needless to say, she was usually used to surprises and even started to expect them. Of course, there was one exception to this.

"Do you think she's ok?" Her fellow victim of pink and companion, Chiori Amamiya, whispered as she watched their golden eyed friend (the 'exception) skim through a celebrity gossip magazine so fast it made Kanae feel dizzy. They watched, fascinated, as she let out an exhausted sigh, then tossed the magazine into a growing pile. Then, she repeated the process again, with a newspaper article. Only this time, she jotted something down in a huge notebook before discarding the article. Kanae stared, surprised.

"MO! What are you doing?" She demanded, startling Kyoko. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with an actress looking at celebrity gossip, it was just that it was so unlike Kyoko that Kanae couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease. She needn't have worried, however.

"MOOOOKOOOOO-SAAAAAAAAAAAAN" Kyoko cried, happy to see her best friend standing there. Kanae instinctively sidestepped, just barely managing to dodge the pink missile hurtling towards her and avoiding what would have probably been a fatal hug.

"Moko-san, why won't you let me hug you? We haven't seen each other in so long." Kyoko said, looking like a beaten puppy and making Kanae feel like she was the one who had beaten her. Guilt however was quickly washed away with anger.

"That wasn't my fault, was it?" Kanae snapped. "You haven't been around since the Dangerous Mission started." Kanae hadn't intended to sound angry or let her irritation show, but as much as she hated to admit it, she was worried about Kyoko. Just what was the 'mission' that kept her from her home, work and friends and why couldn't she tell anyone about it? Kanae also had no doubt that a normal person's concept of 'dangerous' and the president's concept was completely different. Of course, she would never tell anyone that she was worried, ever.

"I'm sorry Moookkkkoooo-saaaaaaaaaaaan." Kyoko wailed and Kanae bit back a sigh.

"Mo! It's fine. Stop groveling." Kanae ordered. Then she turned to look at the papers that had been previously surrounding the number one LoveMe girl. "What are you working on?" she asked, curious. "Is it a LoveMe job?"

Kyoko hesitated and Kanae felt a seed of suspicion.

"Yes, I...I guess it is a LoveMe job." Kyoko said and Kanae glared.

"You guess?"

"Look, this paper has an article about Tsuruga Ren-sama." Chiori called to the girls in what she hoped wasn't an obvious attempt to change the subject. It didn't work. Kanae's eyes narrowed and the seed of suspicion grew. She glided to another article and scanned it.

"So does this one." she murmured. Then, she moved on to another one. "And this one too." She turned to a squirming Kyoko and pointed to the articles. "Explain." She growled and Kyoko squirmed. Kanae, however, would not be fazed.

"You said that this was for a LoveMe assignment." She insisted. "Why are you looking at articles about Tsuruga Ren?"

"Oh, Moko, it's not what you think." Kyoko cried, "It's not that I've become an obsessed fan or anything, this is really so I can do the best possible on a LoveMe job, I swear, that's it!"

A thought passed through Kanae's mind. "Does he have anything to do with dangerous mission?" Kanae asked. This time, Kyoko didn't hesitate.

"Tsuruga-san? Why would he have anything to do with Dangerous Mission?" She wondered aloud, bringing a finger close to her mouth, as if thinking. Her eyes lit up. "Oh, but he does sometimes drive me to the President for dangerous mission. Does that count?" She asked, not really lying. After all, she'd never said that he didn't do anything else besides driving her around. Besides, during dangerous mission, technically, Mogami Kyoko had almost nothing to do with Tsuruga Ren. Setsuka Heel had a lot to do with Cain Heel, of course, but that was completely unrelated.

Kanae dropped the subject and Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief. The remainder of the afternoon consisted of Chiori and Kanae complaining about their own 'missions' and the people they had to work with. Soon, Kyoko, looking a bit guilty, explained to the girls that she again had to go work on her mission. Ignoring the fact that it was too late for most filming, and the fact that Kyoko had stuffed the rest of the Tsuruga Ren articles in her bag, the two LoveMe members bid their friend, the one who had brought them all this far, together, goodbye. They both knew that Dangerous Mission could go on for a while and if previous occurrences were going to be repeated, then Kyoko probably wouldn't be back for a while.

Chiori did not miss the glint in Kanae's eyes.

"What are you going to do?" She asked as she packed her own things, after Kyoko had left.

"I am going to find out the truth." Kanae answered, eyeing the door. Chiori raised an eyebrow. "She's already been hurt enough and he's a playboy." Kanae defended. "If they are working together, I know he won't be able to keep his hands to himself."

Chiori smirked, but kept from remarking. Kyoko was obviously keeping secrets from Kanae, secrets that Tsuruga Ren already seemed to know. As much as she hated to admit it, Chiori knew that Kanae was jealous.

"Are you going to help." Kanae asked her, suddenly. Chiori couldn't stop a bit of curiosity from weeding it's way into her. She had talked to Tsuruga Ren on some occasions and had seen him act (mostly because Kyoko insisted). Even she had to admit she was impressed. He was one of the few stars who seemed to have actual talent. Of course, that wouldn't stop Chiori from killing the man if he ever hurt Kyoko. And besides, it couldn't hurt to find out more about the girl she respected so much.

Chiori smiled. Things were going to get interesting.

Meanwhile, Setsuka Heel sauntered through the streets of Tokyo like she owned them. In a way, she might have, since no one would dream of getting in her way. Not with the tall, deadly looking man walking beside her, glaring at any male that dared to look at his sister for too long. Setsu smiled as her brother paused to wrap an arm around her bare waist, causing a man riding past them to run into a streetlight. The object of his attention, however, took no notice of him. She only had eyes for her nii-san. However, under the spirit of Setsuka Heel was still Kyoko's conscious, and although she was not bothered with Ren's cuddling (It was Cain cuddling Setsuka, not Ren cuddling Kyoko), her mind still went back to the previous conversation she'd had in the LoveMe room. She hadn't meant for Kanae and Chiori or anyone else to see her...research and had no way of explaining to them the reason why.

The truth was that although Kyoko had told herself that she wouldn't ask, that she would wait until he was ready to tell her, she was worried sick about Tsuruga-san. She wasn't an idiot, his act didn't fool her. Behind his smiling face and gentleman's façade, there was an ocean of darkness and he was drowning in it. She was supposed to be his talisman, but how could she protect him when she didn't know what she was protecting him from? That was why she'd been researching all that she could about his past. But so far, everything she'd found about him started from the age of 16 and apparently, she knew more about his private life than any of the people writing the articles she'd looked through. She'd also found nothing traumatic or dark about his past. 'Whatever happened must have happened before he was 16,' she realized. Something that the public didn't know about. But what? And how could she help him? Under the cover of Setsuka's psyche, Kyoko worried and planned. An ocean away, another woman also wore a fake mask.

Brittany Starlings stared at the woman sitting beside her at the waiting area of Los Angeles International Airport. She had struck a conversation with the lady while they both waited for a plane destined for Heathrow airport in England. The pretty, dark blond, tanned woman wearing sunglasses had been interesting to talk to.

"I'm going to visit my friend in London, and then I'm off to Japan." The American woman had told her, distractedly.

"Japan!" Brittany stared at the woman, who looked perfectly at home in California. "Oh my, that's amazing. Do you speak Japanese?" The woman shrugged.

"I can speak it, but I have a terrible accent." She confessed with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Brittany didn't notice.

"That's amazing. I can only speak English, though my brother, the one I'm visiting, he can speak a bit of Irish since he's lived there before. What about you? Have you lived in Japan?" She asked and the blond woman tensed slightly.

"No, I've never really lived anywhere else but here." She confessed.

"Then why are you going to Japan?" Brittany asked, curious. The woman's eyes suddenly went dark and her whole body went stiff. She suddenly looked away. Brittany was just about to apologize for being nosy when the lady mumbled something.

"I beg your pardon." Brittany said politely.

"Unfinished business," She muttered again. Then her eyes hardened, not coldly, but with resolve. "I'm doing something I should have done a long time ago. I'm facing a dark past."

The woman left it at that and Brittany was starting to feel uncomfortable when the woman's eyes went wide as she realized what she'd said and done.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Starlings, that was rude of me." She said, sincerely. Brittany smiled kindly.

" Please, Ms. Jansen, call me Brittany. And I shouldn't have asked. It's none of my business." Ms. Jansen shook her head.

"No, Brittany, you were just curious. Not many American girls go to Japan to face a 'dark past.'" She quoted what she'd said before. Then, almost as an afterthought, she smiled. "Also, calling me Ms. Jansen makes me sound old and I'm only 20. Please, call me Tina."


End file.
